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Stalliongrad
Stalliongrad is a city on the East edge of the Elsir Vale, slightly more populous than Bridle. The area it is in (like much of the Eastern Elsir Vale) was once held by the Gryphon tribes. Stalliongrad has an unusually colorful history and it is reflected in its populace. While many of the ponies of Stalliongrad would not be out of place in Ponyville, Canterlot, or Cloudsdale, a minority percentage of the population of Stalliongrad are the descendants of ponies (sometimes referred to as the Kazak Ponies, after the Griffon word for 'raiders') who wandered out into the wilderness a thousand years ago in the wake of the so-called Lunar Rebellion - not so much out of loyalty to Princess Luna as out of mistrust with a leader who imprisoned her own sister for what sounded like (from a misunderstood distance) a request for equal time. The Kazaks lived as nomads in the griffon and dragon-lands (and are responsible for at least a few score of incidents between Equestria and those kingdoms in the past thousand years), occasionally stopping in one spot and defending and farming it for a while before enough griffons amassed to drive them off again. A few hundred years ago, Celestia finally convinced them to return and settle in a chunk of land ceded by the Griffons, where they and other expansionist ponies founded Stalliongrad. As a result, there is an 'old Stalliongrad' accent and mode of dress that quite a few Stalliongrad ponies possess - but many also do not, seeking to distance themselves from being associated with the old raiders, and believing that it sounds backward and uncultured. The so-called old Stalliongrad accent (actually Kazak) is strongly based on Griffon, and sounds somewhat harsh to the ears of ponies from central Equestria. It is plentifully laced with Griffon loan-words, and most Stalliongraders can at least manage to make themselves understood in pidgin Griffon (not to be confused with Pigeon Griffon, an unrelated language from the north-eastern, more urbanized Griffon realms). Pony linguists have also noted that the speaking voice of Stalliongrad nobility and elected leaders (as well as officers and sergeants of the militia) is almost unchanged from a lower-key variation of the Royal Canterlot Voice, originally used by heralds who were reading edicts and announcements from the Princesses. Among other things, the Stalliongrad voice of address does not use the "Royal we." It is, however, sometimes heart-stoppingly loud and tends to be excessively straightforward, distinctly lacking in the pleasantries and evasions one might find in traditional Equestrian political forms of address. The Stalliongrad militia (or as they pronounce it Militsiya) has a strong 'old guard' mentality, with a tradition of battle and fierceness that definitely goes back to the Kazak pony themes. Their full dress uniform is extraordinarily garish, with a great deal of focus on braid, enormous furry hats (supposedly the oldest hats in the Militsiya museum are made from the ruffs of griffon heroes, but more than one griffon has seen them and pronounced that doubtful) and bright colors, as well as some emphasis on the use of sabers among the heavier fighters. In contrast, their actual battle armor (munitions-grade leather and plate, mostly produced in local smithies) is more mundane and lacking in polish than that seen among the Celestian royal guard. There is a certain amount of one-ups-pony-ship that goes on among 'Kazak loyalists', to the extent of deliberately adopting accents and corrupted words from old Griffon that even griffons can't understand, often reaching such a point as to be nearly inarticulate to ponies who aren't familiar with it. More than one Militsiya-pony puts on an accent with his or her uniform that they never, ever otherwise use around home or friends. Ranks are based on old Celestian military rankings but heavily corrupted by Griffon pronunciation or loan-words (Kaporal for Corporal, Leytenant for Lieutenant, Starshna for Sergeant, Kapitan (sometimes Sotnik) for Captain... at a certain level (possibly representing ranks which did not abdicate the Celestian military and were later created by the Kazaks themselves) these are replaced purely by Griffon words...The closest Equestian term for Polkovnik is Colonel...Which obviously has no linguistic relation.). With the departure from Equestria (referred to variously in local history and legend as "the Exile" despite its voluntary nature), some elements of worship shifted among the Kazaks. While Luna was not elevated, the three pony Paragons (Hurricane, Puddinghead, and Platinum) were raised to nearly the stature of the Princesses, and Celestia came to be regarded as a trickster goddess... An association which has still not shifted among Stalliongraders of Kazak descent. For this reason, Celestia's temple is some ways removed from the other five near the city's center, and the seats of Commander Hurricane, Chancellor Puddinghead, and Princess Platinum are unusually large, reflecting their percentage of the population's worship. The nomadic Kazaks did not have their own architectural style, so the actual construction of Stalliongrad looks about as might be expected from a mix of earth ponies, unicorns and pegasi: buildings tend towards the common Equestrian timber framing, often with crucks, but with a higher percentage of balconies large enough for pegasi to land than would be found in an Earth pony town like Ponyville. While the settling population of Stalliongrad was probably less than a third Kazak, the minority is still highly visible. The Militsiya does not keep records of the ancestry of its recruits, but it is estimated that better than three-quarter of those serving are of Kazak descent. The most popular staples of Stalliongrader cuisine are (at best) considered "charmingly rustic" by the Canterlot mainstream, and the old Kazak mode of dress has left Stalliongrad couture obsessed with furry hats (though none so large as the Militsiya shakos) and long-tailed double-breasted coats cut tightly across the forequarters. Mane-styling is less obviously influenced (perhaps due to the propensity for furry hats) but heavy braids are rare outside of the Militsiya or the local civilian politsiya. Mutton-chops and thick handlebar moustaches do seem to be regionally popular. Category:Places Category:Stalliongrad